What I've Learned About Podcasting After 100 Episodes

I am so thrilled you are here because this is a special episode for me . I have worked so hard to get this podcast up and growing and today I want to share a bit about my experience with podcasting and just doing it while running a business in general .

I'm going to talk about why I started My Weekly Marketing and what I was afraid of my podcasting experience , including one big mistake I made that I want you to watch out for .

I'll hit on a few questions I get about podcasting , some lessons I've learned, my most downloaded episodes , what I'd do differently if I started today , and some advice for staying consistent and keeping momentum for 100 episodes . So if you're considering a podcast for your own business , you can learn from my experiences too .

So first up , I want to express my gratitude for you , the listener . I didn't know what to expect when I started and I really wasn't sure if I wanted to start a podcast at all . I'm

a bit of a committaphobe and the thought of having to do a task week in , week out made me just a little bit nervous . So I don't love to commit . But one thing I have learned about myself is that once I do commit , I am all in . But I also realized I didn't have to set a schedule , which is very freeing .

I could record as many episodes as I wanted to at once and be done . In fact , the idea of batching is what made me reconsider doing the podcast at all . My other fear was that I would put in a ton of work and get no listeners .

Thankfully , that has not happened , and although it's growing more slowly than I'd like , it's growing with every single episode that I'm doing . So I am so thankful to all of you who've made this happen .

So , while I feared it would be a flop , I also knew that there was a lot of people who could benefit from what I've learned for more than 30 years in the marketing world . Maybe it's because I grew up in a small business family , but I have a passion for people who start businesses and I really wanted to help .

I'm also a marketing nerd and I have played just about every role in marketing over the years , so I feel like I have a unique perspective . Marketing has become a very siloed industry . You have social media experts , ad experts , seo experts , but there aren't a lot of people who can pull everything together to make all the pieces work in unison .

100% of the businesses I've worked with are missing part of what I call the Trail to the Sale , so their marketing doesn't work . Understanding the whole marketing journey is what's required for marketing to be successful for a business , and that's what clients tell me is my secret sauce . So that was my aim for My Weekly Marketing .

I also want to do podcasts because there's so much wisdom that my guests bring to each show . Marketing is like shifting sand and no one person can know everything in depth , so I wanted to bring in experts where they're needed . So the more I thought about it , the more I realized that this podcast was the right thing for me to do .

When I recorded my first episode , I was crazy nervous . In fact , I re-recorded the entire episode three times . Not gonna lie , it was really hard for me to listen to my own voice , and it still kind of is today . I'm , without a doubt , my own worst critic , and I know that many of you are too . In my first episode , you can almost hear my voice shaking .

It was especially difficult because I talked about why I was qualified to have a podcast , and although expressing personal things has gotten easier for me over the years . It's still a little nerve-wracking to talk up my accomplishments .

I was raised to be very humble , and when you hear your mom's voice in the back of your head saying things like don't brag , it's hard to talk yourself up . I also know that I have a long way to go , especially when speaking off the cuff , and I'm working on that too .

But I am the type of person who is stubborn enough to keep going at something until I get it right , no matter what it is , and I want you to remember that , with anything in business , doing it consistently is what pays

off . While it's difficult to pinpoint an exact percentage , a significant portion of podcasts like 90% don't get past episode three , and a huge majority of those that continue like another 90% quit after 20 episodes .

So I was , and still am , determined to become better at what I do , and even if I get five downloads , I know that I'm making a difference in the lives of those five people , and that's what gives me the fortitude to keep going . And that's something I want you to remember too .

If you're podcasting on social media or if you're just writing a blog , it's better to go deep and connect with those who really need to hear what you have to say than to go shallow and try and talk to everyone , because that never works . So , anyway , after I got going with the podcast , it became easier , and I love bringing on new guests .

I have interviewed so many people I would have never met because of my podcast , and I've learned a ton from my guests as well . But remember , I told you I made a big mistake when I started . What I didn't take into account is if my ideal customer , an ambitious woman business owner , listened to podcasts . I know , duh right , I only assumed they did .

I really violated my own first rule of marketing , which is go where your customer is . But in my defense , there weren't a lot of statistics available at the time about who exactly listens to podcasts . But I often ask my new customers and they tend to not be podcast listeners .

That's why I always make a PDF transcript available for each episode and why I'll continue to do that . But that's the one thing I would encourage you to do if you're considering starting a podcast . Podcasts can be an amazing outreach tool if your ideal customer is listening to them . But keep that in mind . Find out first if they listen .

Plus , if I were going to be 100% truthful with myself . The appeal of podcasts is that I don't need to get on camera , so I think it kind of dissuaded me a little bit in that area .

But that's a therapy session right there , so I won't get into that , okay , I get a lot of the same questions about podcasting from friends and listeners , so here are some of my favorite FAQs

. Number one do I use a script ? Yes , I do . I found that I'm a much better writer than a speaker , so I script out all of my solo episodes , including this one , although if I'm feeling extra confident , I do go off script from time to time , including on this one . Number two do my guests know the questions I'm going to ask them in advance ?

Sometimes they do , but sometimes they don't . I try not to throw any curveballs , of course , but sometimes they like to know the questions in advance and I totally get that . Most of the time we have a conversation-like format which brings up questions I hadn't intended to ask them , so I definitely go off script a lot when I'm interviewing someone on my podcast .

Number three how much time does it take ? So I'm not really sure how to answer that because I never really clocked it . But here's my process and maybe you can kind of figure it out from there .

For me, I brainstorm the type of guests I'd like to have and recruit some of those , and many come to me directly , which , by the way , you can too if you'd like to be considered as a guest on my show . I'll put the link in the show notes .

After that I do some screening interviews or short meetings with the potential guests to talk about what I'd like to have in the episode , and then they schedule a recording date . The most time is spent doing the actual recording , including recording the intro and the outro and writing the script .

If it's a solo episode , the editing process also takes a lot of time , but I outsource that part of it and then I listen to each one after it's complete and before it's uploaded . The show notes also take time to put together and I have my assistant who does that . It takes her several hours a week to do that .

All told , it does take several hours a week to do this podcast , but it's my crown content .

It's the thing that I spend the most time on , so I share it to my newsletter each week for secondary content , and on social media after that , if I have a guest on , I typically ask them to share it with their network as well , and that's how it's growing and that's how I fit it in with my other outreach .

Question number four how do I get my podcast on major platforms like Apple and Spotify ? I use a hosting platform called Buzzsprout and I'll put a link to that in the show notes where you get $20 credit if you subscribe . I started with their free account and they were great .

I love Buzzsprout because they'll walk you through exactly what to do to get your podcast up on those big platforms . Once our podcast is edited each week , we upload it to Buzzsprout and then they do it all .

They make it sound good , they transcribe it , they suggest titles and they export each episode to the big podcast players like Apple and Spotify , and they also give you analytics and , if you choose to monetize it , they even help you with that too . So Buzzsprout is a pretty good deal and it helps me save so much time each week .

Number five what equipment and tools do you use to record a podcast ? So my initial costs were a microphone , of course , but mine was very affordable and it's a really good mic for the money . It drowns out household noise , including my barking dog , when she's actually barking in the office while I'm recording . It's pretty amazing .

Plus , it makes my voice sound so much better . It's made by Audio-Technica , so I'll put a link to that in the show notes too . We edit it on GarageBand , which is included on a Mac computer . I'm not sure about a PC , but it's just a typical editing tool . That's where I also record my solo episodes like this one . Right now I'm recording on a GarageB and .

For interviews I use Zoom , since they allow you to record a separate audio file for each speaker . So if I start coughing , for example when my guest is talking , it's easier to edit that out than if they were both on the same track .

And then Buzzsprout , of course , which I talked about earlier , and my computer , of course , and I use ring lights and an additional light if I'm going to be doing video snippets , which I do for my interviews . And I also use ChatGPT to generate some questions and outlines for podcasts . But then I work on from there .

It's a really good brainstorming tool , but it's not at the point where I can trust it for questions for the guests , but it does help me think of some ideas . Of course , the biggest expense is going to be time . It's my time , my assistant's time and my editor's time .

I've also learned a ton about podcasting from Pat Flynn , who has a free course , and I'll add the link to that to my show notes as well . Okay , I have learned a few lessons in this process .

There have been some typical things like tech fails and awkward silences , which , of course , can be expected , and I've learned that interviewing is a skill , and a skill can always be improved , right . I would say . The biggest challenge , though , is the guest who isn't chatty . A few guests answer the questions , and kind of that's it .

Those guests are a little more of a challenge to work with , since I feel like their interview is a little forced , so I do pre-screen all my guests to get a feel for how well they do on an episode before I have them on , and to just make sure that we kind of connect . It's also something to keep in mind if you are a guest on a podcast too .

If you're chattier , you're going to be easier to interview , and your podcast host is really going to like that , and the other thing I've learned is that you don't want to pressure anyone to be on your podcast . Early on , I begged and pleaded with people that I knew to come on my podcast because I just didn't have any guests signed up at the time . But many

were not comfortable with it and you could really tell on the interview . So I've learned not to pressure anyone to be a podcast guest . Okay , so I thought about sharing my favorite guests , but honestly , there have been so many amazing guests that I have loved so I just can't do that . So I will share my most downloaded episode .

That was one of my first episodes and it was with my good friend , Tammy McKinney , who is a coach , and she talked about how to keep running your business when your personal life falls apart . I think that really hit a nerve with so many business owners .

We all want to appear to have everything together and Instagrammable , but that's not life , and when we get sick or our parents get sick and our kids go off the rails , we still have to keep our business going , and that's not easy . So if you want to hear that episode , it's number three .

She provided what she did as she was faced with a plethora of personal challenges all at once , so it's a very good episode , and that one is also tied with episode 10 , which is how I used ChatGPT to market your small business , which did really well early on , before anyone had much experience with using ChatGPT .

So I want to continue to do episodes on how to use ChatGPT in marketing too , as it becomes more of a powerful tool . Okay , and then what I would do differently if I started a podcast today . I would have started earlier , but of course there's no way to do that now .

It's become more competitive , so it's important to be unique and stand out in a sea of sameness . And because there are so many podcasts out now , I wish I would have started long before . It was so competitive , but I didn't . So it's important to just kind of keep focusing on what I do best and really speaking to the pain points of my ideal customer .

And also , I think one other thing I would have done differently is I would have rehearsed more on my own before starting my first recording

. That would have helped with my nerves . But honestly , the way to get good at something is to just do it , and that was true when you're learning . We're learning to walk or ride a bike or start a podcast . So repetition pays off , and totally true in podcasting .

And I just recommend , if you are wanting to do a podcast and you're a little nervous about starting , just jump right in . That's the best way to do it . And last but not least , I do have a little advice for staying consistent and keeping momentum . For the last 100 episodes , I believe we can do anything in our business .

If we can schedule it , if it's a priority , you can make sure you have time for it . If you leave it to when you just have the time , it won't happen , or at least it won't happen consistently and perhaps not even at all . Once you're committed , keep it going and don't give up .

You have it in you to improve , and so do I , and that's the advice I give to anyone in business . There is no failure . There are only lessons learned . We just pick ourselves up and try again next time . This time you can find the show notes for this episode and any links that we talked about today at myweeklymarketingcom forward slash 100 .

And a big thank you to my guests , supporters and , most of all , you , my listener , who helped me get to 100 episodes . If you want to continue to learn more about marketing strategy for your business , please consider subscribing . Thanks again , see you next time . Bye for now .